Display

The Moto Z Droid has a 5.5 inch quad-HD (2560x1440px) AMOLED display. This is a departure from the 2015 Moto X's LCD display in favor of an AMOLED panel. The AMOLED panel has the benefit of displaying darker blacks, more vivid colors, better outdoor legibility and it is also more power efficient in showing dark content. In many cases the screen is able to leave the black pixels powered off, such as when Moto Display is showing you notifications or the time.

In our color rendition tests, the Moto Z has shown an average deltaE of 5.3 and max deltaE or 11.7. Colors are well represented and look pleasant to the eye with the default "Vivid" display setting. There is also a "Standard" setting which displays more accurate colors, though not as accurate as we've seen other phones reach.

Display test

100% brightness

Black, cd/m2

White, cd/m2

Contrast ratio

Lenovo Moto Z

0.00

371

∞

Lenovo Moto Z max auto

0.00

506

∞

Samsung Galaxy S7 edge

0.00

392

∞

Samsung Galaxy S7 edge max auto

0.00

610

∞

Huawei Nexus 6P

0.00

352

∞

OnePlus 3

0.00

433

∞

Apple iPhone 6s Plus

0.43

590

1382

Samsung Galaxy Note5

-

439

∞

Samsung Galaxy Note5 max auto

-

620

-

Samsung Galaxy S7 active

0.00

424

∞

Samsung Galaxy S7 active max auto

0.00

602

∞

With the "Standard" setting, colors are significantly more accurate with the exception of whites, which are cooler than they should be. The average deltaE is 2.9 now but the Max deltaE is at 8.1.

Display settings

This display panel features a brightness overdrive mode only available with 'Adaptive brightness' enabled and it brings it from the regular max brightness of 370 nits all the way to 506. While this isn't the brightest screen we've seen, it's pretty good and you shouldn't have any trouble seeing the display in direct sunlight.

Speaking of which, sunlight legibility is quantifiably great as well.

Sunlight contrast ratio

Samsung Galaxy S6 edge+4.615

Samsung Galaxy S7 edge4.439

OnePlus 34.424

Samsung Galaxy S74.376

HTC One A94.274

Samsung Galaxy Note74.247

Samsung Galaxy A34.241

OnePlus 3T4.232

Google Pixel XL4.164

ZTE Axon 74.154

Samsung Galaxy S6 edge4.124

Samsung Galaxy Note54.09

Huawei Nexus 6P4.019

OnePlus X3.983

Vivo Xplay5 Elite3.983

Oppo R7s3.964

Apple iPhone 73.964

Huawei P9 Plus3.956

Meizu Pro 6 Plus3.935

Lenovo Moto Z3.931

Samsung Galaxy A7 (2016)3.918

Samsung Galaxy C53.911

Samsung Galaxy C73.896

Samsung Galaxy A53.895

Samsung Galaxy J7 outdoor3.879

Samsung Galaxy J2 outdoor3.873

Samsung Galaxy A83.859

Samsung Galaxy A9 (2016)3.817

Motorola Moto X (2014)3.816

Samsung Galaxy J7 (2016) outdoor mode3.802

Xiaomi Redmi Pro3.798

LG V20 Max auto3.798

Sony Xperia XZ3.795

Samsung Galaxy A5 (2016)3.789

Apple iPhone 6s3.783

Meizu Pro 53.781

Microsoft Lumia 6503.772

Samsung Galaxy J7 (2016)3.756

Oppo F1 Plus3.709

Vivo X5Pro3.706

Sony Xperia X Compact3.694

Apple iPhone SE3.681

Huawei Mate 93.68

Samsung Galaxy A73.679

Meizu PRO 63.659

BlackBerry Priv3.645

Apple iPhone 7 Plus3.588

Apple iPhone 6s Plus3.53

Motorola Moto Z Play3.526

Samsung Galaxy J3 (2016)3.523

Samsung Galaxy J3 (2016) outdoor mode3.523

Acer Jade Primo3.521

Microsoft Lumia 9503.512

Oppo R7 Plus3.499

nubia Z113.466

Samsung Galaxy J73.422

Meizu MX53.416

LG V203.402

Oppo R9s3.352

Oppo R73.32

Xiaomi Mi 5s3.276

Samsung Galaxy J23.235

Sony Xperia X Performance3.234

Xiaomi Mi Note 23.228

Motorola Moto X Play3.222

Huawei P93.195

Lenovo Vibe Shot3.113

Motorola Moto X Force3.105

LG Nexus 5X3.092

Huawei Mate S3.073

Microsoft Lumia 640 XL3.065

Sony Xperia X2.989

Huawei Mate 82.949

Xiaomi Redmi 3S2.913

Sony Xperia XA Ultra2.906

LG G52.905

HTC One S2.901

Xiaomi Redmi 3s Prime2.893

Xiaomi Mi 5s Plus2.884

Sony Xperia Z52.876

Microsoft Lumia 5502.851

Lenovo Moto M2.813

Xiaomi Redmi 3 Pro2.803

Sony Xperia Z5 compact2.784

Meizu MX62.751

LG V102.744

Xiaomi Redmi 32.735

Sony Xperia M52.69

Huawei P9 Lite2.679

Xiaomi Redmi 4 Prime2.679

Vivo V3Max2.659

Xiaomi Mi Mix2.658

Xiaomi Mi 4i2.641

Sony Xperia XA2.609

Motorola Moto G4 Plus2.582

Motorola Moto G4 Plus (max auto)2.582

Xiaomi Mi 4c2.574

LeEco Le Max 22.567

Microsoft Lumia 6402.563

Asus Zenfone 3 ZE552KL2.563

Lenovo Moto G42.544

Lenovo K6 Note2.544

Oppo F12.528

Sony Xperia Z5 Premium2.525

Huawei Honor 7 Lite / Honor 5c2.506

Sony Xperia M4 Aqua2.503

Oppo F1s2.481

Motorola Moto G2.477

Lenovo Vibe K5 Plus2.473

Huawei G82.471

Huawei nova2.467

Sony Xperia Z2.462

Lenovo Vibe K52.459

Meizu m3 max2.447

Huawei Honor 72.406

Sony Xperia E52.386

ZUK Z1 by Lenovo2.382

HTC 102.378

Samsung Galaxy J5 (2016)2.378

Meizu m1 note2.362

Huawei nova plus2.329

HTC One E9+2.305

Alcatel One Touch Hero2.272

Apple iPhone 4S2.269

Lenovo Vibe K4 Note2.254

Sony Xperia C5 Ultra2.253

Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 (MediaTek)2.249

Sony Xperia C4 Dual2.235

Xiaomi Mi Note2.234

Motorola Moto G (2014)2.233

LG Nexus 52.228

Huawei P82.196

Huawei Honor 62.169

Xiaomi Redmi Note 22.166

OnePlus Two2.165

HTC One X2.158

LG Aka2.145

Xiaomi Redmi Note 42.145

Archos 50 Diamond2.134

Xiaomi Redmi Note2.119

Acer Liquid X22.084

Huawei P8lite2.078

Moto G 3rd gen max manual2.026

Xiaomi Mi Max1.996

Sony Xperia E4g1.972

OnePlus One1.961

Meizu m3 note1.923

BlackBerry Leap1.892

Meizu m2 note1.892

ZTE Nubia Z9 mini1.759

Sony Xperia U1.758

Asus Zenfone Selfie1.68

Motorola Moto E (2nd Gen)1.675

ZTE Nubia Z91.659

Jolla Jolla1.605

Motorola Moto E1.545

Sony Xperia M1.473

HTC Desire C1.3

Sony Xperia C1.283

Meizu MX1.221

Sony Xperia E1.215

This is such a great quality display, there isn't even any color shifting at normal viewing angles. The colors don't start shifting until you're looking at the device from about 80 degrees from the center. With the exception of some of its color tuning, Moto Z sports a really nice screen.

Connectivity

The Moto Z features a USB-C port which also doubles as the 3.5mm headphone jack (via an adapter) since there is no integrated headphone jack (because of this, there is no FM Radio chip either).

Other connectivity options include: Wi-Fi a/b/g/n/ac (5GHz), Bluetooth 4.1 LE, NFC, A-GPS, Wi-Fi Direct, and of course, the Moto Mod dock connector which allows for endless expansion of display signal, power, or addition of new sensors such as temperature.

The Moto Z also has Android Pay pre-loaded as the default mobile payment service. Android Pay works with NFC and works at all tap-to-pay terminals.

Unfortunately, the charging cable is a part of the charger as a single unit and cannot be separated. Likewise, the Moto Z does not come with any type of cable that you can connect to a computer to transfer files back and forth. You'll have to buy your own transfer cable.

Battery life

You could say we were expecting this, but a 2,600 mAh battery in a phone of this caliber is simply not enough and the battery test results are a clear reflection of that. Yeah, the Moto Z is the thinnest smartphone on the market, but you need to decide if design matters to you over battery life.

The Moto Z has a 2,600mAh battery. A size not fit for a smartphone with a top of the line CPU, 5.5 inch quad-HD screen, and Moto enhancements which offer value added features thanks to: contextual motion and language sensors; In other words, too many things that may be detrimental to battery life, especially for a phone with this size battery.

Thankfully there's a 15 watt Turbo Charger included in the box, which brings the Moto Z up to 52% from a dead battery in 30 minutes.

Our tests have yielded the Moto Z Droid with a score of 53h. The video-playback test scored 9:51h, and the web browsing test scored a much lower 6:13h while the talk time scored a just-as-bad 10:43h, though, that's still not as low as the iPhone 6S's talk time of 9:41h.

Otherwise, the phone doesn't feel like it's as bad as the results might show. Surely if you're a more avid user of your smartphone and you constantly use various social media apps or play Pokemon Go a lot, you'll probably have a bad time with the battery endurance.

On the flip side, if you are a leaner smartphone user, you'll learn to live with the Turbo Charger, which charges the phone quite fast. The thing is, you would probably have to carry it with you as the phone normally won't last a full day. In fact, we feel many users might not be happy about the battery life in the Moto Z.

Otherwise, you can get a Moto Mod battery add on. Our tests with the Tumi 2,200mAh battery added a total of 60% to the life of the Moto Z when we docked it to the totally depleted Moto Z. The Moto Mod battery lasted 1:32h to completely deplete itself and charge the Moto Z.

Here's a breakdown of how the battery pack yielded power for the Moto Z:

30 minutes of charging brought the Moto Z to 21% from 0%

1 hour of charging brought the Moto Z to 41% (with 35% left on the battery)

1 hour and 32 minutes later, the battery Moto Mod was depleted and added 60% to the Moto Z

The battery testing procedure is described in detail in case you're interested in the nitty-gritties. You can also check out our complete battery test table, where you can see how all of the smartphones we've tested will compare under your own typical use.